Based on a SORG system developed for furnace applications, the patented CONTI DRAIN® system was first applied to a conventional forehearth in October 1999. An immediate success on that line, a further 2 systems were installed on the same furnace a few months later. Now, just 4 years after the initial installation the 50th system has been sold.

One of the reasons for the difficulty of removing zircon cords is the fact that the contaminated material usually sits on the channel bottom, and therefore cannot be reached by stirrers. The forehearth CONTI DRAIN® is able to remove the glass from the channel bottom in a controlled manner, and thus remove the material which is responsible for the unsightly cords in the finished product.

Optimum drain performance is obtained with a specially developed drain channel block, but the CONTI DRAIN system has also been successfully installed on four operational forehearths by drilling the existing channel blocks from outside, thus minimising the down-time.